Java variable number or arguments for a method

Is it possible to declare a method that will allow a variable number of parameters ?

What is the symbolism used in the definition that indicate that the method should allow a variable number of parameters?

Answer: varargs

Solution 1:

That's correct. You can find more about it in the Oracle guide on varargs.

Here's an example:

void foo(String... args) {
    for (String arg : args) {
        System.out.println(arg);
    }
}

which can be called as

foo("foo"); // Single arg.
foo("foo", "bar"); // Multiple args.
foo("foo", "bar", "lol"); // Don't matter how many!
foo(new String[] { "foo", "bar" }); // Arrays are also accepted.
foo(); // And even no args.

Solution 2:

Yes, it's possible:

public void myMethod(int... numbers) { /* your code */ }

Solution 3:

Variable number of arguments

It is possible to pass a variable number of arguments to a method. However, there are some restrictions:

• The variable number of parameters must all be the same type
• They are treated as an array within the method
• They must be the last parameter of the method

To understand these restrictions, consider the method, in the following code snippet, used to return the largest integer in a list of integers:

private static int largest(int... numbers) {
     int currentLargest = numbers[0];
     for (int number : numbers) {
        if (number > currentLargest) {
            currentLargest = number;
        }
     }
     return currentLargest;
}

source Oracle Certified Associate Java SE 7 Programmer Study Guide 2012